NEW DELHI: RJD chief Lalu Prasad rubbished the corruption charges against him in the case filed by the CBI saying on Friday that he is the target of a “BJP conspiracy”.

The CBI on Friday raided properties associated with Lalu, his family and his close associates, having registered a corruption case against him on July 5 for some of his alleged actions when he was Union railway minister.

“Me and my party will not be cowed. It is a conspiracy against me,” said Lalu.

Lalu is accused of having got a payoff for enabling a private company get a tender to maintain two Railways hotels. The tender process was allegedly “tweaked”, the CBI said.

“No wrong was done in the tendering, this is a BJP conspiracy. The BJP government is striking down anyone who speaks against them”, said the RJD chief.

Lalu said his family is constantly being targeted by the BJP.

“Because of their (the BJP’s) political vendetta, they are making constant attacks on my family. They want us to bow down before the BJP,” said Lalu, again adding they “won’t be cowed”.

The CBI said on Friday it is conducting simultaneous raids in 12 locations associated with Lalu and the other accused, including in Patna, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar and Gurugram. The raids began at 7: 30 am Friday.

Lalu allegedly received three acres of land – through a multi-layered process – in exchange for granting a private company “rigged” tenders to maintain two Railways hotels when he was railway minister, said Rakesh Asthana, additional director, CBI.

The tenders were granted through the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) between 2004 and 2009 when Lalu was Union railway minister, the CBI added.